Colin samples the Sweet taste of success at Lisburn

Colin Sweet’s sumptuous back nine helped him to victory in the Lindsay Mazda Trophy at Lisburn on Saturday.

There were five players tied at the top on 40 points. The others were Francis Gorman (24), John Boyd (8), Peter Holmes (11) and Stephen Orr (13).

Ivor McCandless, Ronnie Brooks, Andrew Crawford and Mark Stewart about to tee off at Lisburn GC.

Gary Campbell (6) and John Boyd led the field at the half-way stage with 22 points. Gary fell away but John had 40 points on the final tee. He shanked a three iron into the trees and could not add to his total Even a point would have won it.

The winner also failed to scored on the 18th but that’s wasn’t to matter.

Colin (8) actually had a poor start with four points after three holes. He played the next 12 holes in two under par thanks to birdies at 12 and 13. He also had 40 points on the final tee.

He was short with his tee shot and thinned his pitch over the green which resulted in a ding.

His 20 points on the back nine though was sufficient to win on count-back.

Peter, Stephen and Francis all scored 19 points on the back nine.

Francis had a birdie two at the 13th for four points and finished with a par three for three more to claim second place on the last six holes.

After a par at the 16th for three points, Stephen had birdie three at 17 for a ‘four pointer’ to claim third place on the last six holes.

Ryan Symington (+1) had a gross 68 and was one of five players to finish on 39 points. The others were Stephen Stewart, Gary Moore, David Armstrong and Chris Collins.

The good weather and the excellent condition of the course led to over 230 competitors competing with 30 recording scores greater than 36 and suffering handicap reductions.